I followed the directions exactly and was very disappointed. (After cooling and tasting, I put it into a pan and baked it at 250 for 45 minutes, and then it was much, much better.) The long, slow cooking of the old recipe blends the flavors and crisps the cereal and nuts into a snack mix rather than just seasoned cereal. The microwave version tastes as good as the bagged Chex mix, but if you want it better than that, bake it at 250 for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Pecans are a great addition if you use the slow bake method.